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Guild Wars 2 Release Date Set–"when it’s done"
February 24th, 2009 by Theo, MMOsite Columnist |
After a recent article published in the Voodoo Extreme section of IGN detailed player and profit number decreases for NCSoft, a slew of articles appeared around the net claiming a delay of Guild Wars 2, but according to a new letter posted on the official Guild Wars site, ArenaNet Co-Founder Mike O' Brian has stated that this was entirely speculation.
Entitled "A Letter to Our Fans" O' Brien explains that not only will the restructuring (or destructing as some may view it) of NCSoft West not affect Guild Wars negatively, it could in actuality have a positive impact, as money and resources will be focused more clearly on NCSoft's larger titles, such as Guild Wars 2.
The full letter can be read below.
"To our fans,
There have been some published rumors over the past few days about Guild Wars 2 delays, and I'm writing you today to set the record straight.
You've all seen announcements about restructuring at NCsoft West, and it's natural to wonder whether that restructuring impacts ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 development. In fact, the reason NCsoft West is restructuring itself is so that the company can put all of its focus into its top-tier games like Guild Wars 2. Our team continues to grow, and has the strong support and financial backing we need to achieve our goal of making Guild Wars 2 the best online role-playing game ever created.
On Friday, NCsoft released investor materials that showed a very broad release window for Guild Wars 2, with the explanation that release timing is still "to be announced." ArenaNet has never given a release date for Guild Wars 2 other than "when it's done." NCsoft's investor materials are a reflection of that philosophy.
I know some fans had hoped for a smaller gap between the launch of Guild Wars: Eye of the Northand the start of beta testing for Guild Wars 2, but we communicated last summer that it would be some time before we could commit to any beta or launch dates. Guild Wars 2 is a large and ambitious game, and we're going to take the time to do it right.
I'm immensely proud of what our team has accomplished and continues to accomplish with the development of Guild Wars 2. We'll have a lot more to say when we're closer to release. Until then, we thank you for your continued interest and ask you to stay tuned.
Mike O'Bri"
